Better later than never

Dr. Henry Heimlich, the inventor of his eponymous life-saving manoeuvre, used the technique for the first time recently - to save an elderly woman from choking.

The 96-year-old said that he has demonstrated the well-known procedure many times over the years, he has never used it on a person in an emergency situation.

Luckily Dr. Heimlich was on hand to help dislodge a piece of hamburger, which has got stuck in 87-year-old Patty Ris’ throat at a retirement home.

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When Ris started to choke a member of staff came to help, but Dr. Heimlich was already on the case.

Speaking to the Cincinnati Enquirer he said: “When I used it, and she recovered quickly it made me appreciate how wonderful it has been to be able to save all those lives.”

In an interview with The Guardian on Friday about the incident, he added: "That moment was very important to me. I knew about all the lives my manoeuvre has saved over the years and I have demonstrated it so many times but here, for the first time, was someone sitting right next to me who was about to die."